Carsharing in a Small City: Ithaca Carshare’s First Two Years Final Report Contract Agreement No. 9821 Prepared for The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Joseph D. Tario Project Manager and New York State Department of Transportation John Zamurs Project Manager Prepared by Adam Blair Research Associate and Jennifer Dotson Project Director Ithaca Carshare, Inc. Ithaca, NY March 2011 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. C-06-33 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Carsharing in a Small City: Ithaca Carshare's First Two Years March 2011 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Jennifer Dotson, Adam Blair 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. Ithaca Carshare, P.O. Box 418, Ithaca, NY 14851-0418 11. Contract or Grant No. 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered NYS Department of Transportation, 50 Wolf Road, Albany, New York 12232 Final Report 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 15. Supplementary Notes Project funded in part with funds from the Federal Highway Administration 16. Abstract Ithaca Carshare launched service in June 2008 as the first independent carsharing organization in New York State, offering an affordable and reliable transportation option to the residents of the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County. During the first two years of operation, Ithaca Carshare registered over 800 drivers who collectively made 14,126 trips totaling nearly 250,000 miles. Ithaca Carshare vehicles are scattered throughout Ithaca, where they are proximate to registered drivers. Usage is best during spring and fall seasons, when the academic institutions are in session. The majority of Ithaca Carshare members are between the ages of 20 and 34, and many are affiliated with either Ithaca College or Cornell University. The organization serves members across a variety of income brackets, indicating the affordability of carsharing services. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement Carsharing, Ithaca Carshare, Transportation, VMT, Mobility, Access, Multimodal, CarSharing Association, No Restrictions JARC (Job Access/Reverse Commute), Low-income 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified Pages 29 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) NOTICE This report was prepared by Ithaca Carshare, Inc. in the course of performing work contracted for and sponsored by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York State Department of Transportation (hereafter the "Sponsors"). The opinions expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the Sponsors or the State of New York, and reference to any specific product, service, process, or method does not constitute an implied or expressed recommendation or endorsement of it. Further, the Sponsors and the State of New York make no warranties or representations, expressed or implied, as to the fitness for particular purpose or merchantability of any product, apparatus, or service, or the usefulness, completeness, or accuracy of any processes, methods, or other information contained, described, disclosed, or referred to in this report. The Sponsors, the State of New York, and the contractor make no representation that the use of any product, apparatus, process, method, or other information will not infringe privately owned rights and will assume no liability for any loss, injury, or damage resulting from, or occurring in connection with, the use of information contained, described, disclosed, or referred to in this report. DISCLAIMER This report was funded in part through grant(s) from the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation, under the State Planning and Research Program, Section 505 of Title 23, U.S. Code. The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of the United States Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration or the New York State Department of Transportation. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, regulation, product endorsement, or an endorsement of manufacturers. iii ABSTRACT Ithaca Carshare launched service in June 2008 as the first independent carsharing organization in New York State, offering an affordable and reliable transportation option to the residents of the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County. During the first two years of operation, Ithaca Carshare registered over 800 drivers who collectively made 14,126 trips totaling nearly 250,000 miles. Ithaca Carshare vehicles are scattered throughout Ithaca, where they are proximate to registered drivers. Usage is best during spring and fall seasons, when the academic institutions are in session. The majority of Ithaca Carshare members are between the ages of 20 and 34, and many are affiliated with either Ithaca College or Cornell University. The organization serves members across a variety of income brackets, indicating the affordability of carsharing services. KEY WORDS Carsharing Ithaca Carshare Transportation VMT Mobility Access Multimodal CarSharing Association JARC (Job Access/Reverse Commute) Low-income iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Ithaca Carshare team would like to acknowledge the invaluable support of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) in the establishment and early success of our organization, in the form of the vision and consistent trust in innovation from Joseph D. Tario of NYSERDA and Robert Ancar of NYSDOT. We expect their presence in their respective agencies will support many future positive initiatives in directions we can only imagine at this point. We would also like to express our appreciation for the gracious support from our local partners, including Fernando de Aragon at the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council, Tim Logue at the City of Ithaca's Transportation Engineering office, David Lieb of Transportation and Mail Services at Cornell University, Marian Brown with Sustainability Programs at Ithaca College, Stephanie Greenwood at EcoVillage at Ithaca, and later, Dwight Mengel at the Tompkins County Department of Social Services and Chrisophia Somerfeldt at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, particularly the Way2Go transportation education program. The successes reported here would not have been possible without the collaboration and advice of many carsharing organizations that paved the way for us, particularly Tanya Seaman and Emily Fleck at PhillyCarShare, Amy Anton and Rick Hutchinson at CityCarShare (San Francisco), and Karen Worminghaus at Boulder CarShare (now eGo), among several others. Ithaca Carshare is part of a generation of carsharing organizations and founders in small cities that includes Creighton Randall at Buffalo CarShare, Becky Brown at Ashland (Oregon) CarShare, and Annie Bourdon at CarShare Vermont; our experience facing similar challenges and opportunities in small cities has created lasting bonds. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................ S-1 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1-1 Operations ..................................................................................................................... 1-1 Leadership & Management ............................................................................................ 1-3 Pricing ............................................................................................................................ 1-4 Marketing ....................................................................................................................... 1-5 2 MEMBERSHIP & USAGE .......................................................................................................... 2-1 Member Demographics .................................................................................................. 2-1 Reservations & Usage .................................................................................................... 2-4 3 FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS ...................................................................................................... 3-1 Targeted Low-Income Service ....................................................................................... 3-1 Hybrid/Electric Vehicles ................................................................................................ 3-1 Participation in Other Initiatives .................................................................................... 3-2 4 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 4-1 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page 2-1 Age distribution of Ithaca Carshare members, March 2010, and of City of Ithaca residents, 2006 – 2008 ................................................................................ 2-1 2-2 Household income of Ithaca Carshare members, March 2010 ..................................................... 2-2 2-3 Racial makeup of Ithaca Carshare members, March 2010, and of City of Ithaca residents, 2006 – 2008 and Tompkins County residents, 2006 – 2008 ......................................................... 2-3 2-4 Ithaca Carshare driver and vehicle locations